JOIN USBBMP war room worker blocked beds, friend sought bribe
A staffer in the BBMP's South Zone Covid war room is among two people arrested in the hospital bed allotment scam.
Varun S, 20, one of several employees who worked the phone lines in the war room, allegedly shared patients' contact numbers with a friend named Yeshwanth Kumar M, 21, who then acted as a broker to book hospital beds in exchange for money. Kumar would make phone calls to the patient or their family members and demand the bribe, said Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).
The men were caught by the CCB on Wednesday evening, said a senior police officer. Varun had continued blocking beds for money after the scam was "exposed" by BJP MP L S Tejasvi Surya and three MLAs during a raid on the South Zone war room on May 4.
The CCB has taken both Varun and Yeshwanth into custody. "We are questioning them about the number of beds they blocked and the money they demanded from each patient. We will also question the staff at a few hospitals," another senior officer said.
Eleven people have so far been arrested in the scam. On Tuesday, police arrested Babu, 34, an aide of the BJP MLA, M Satish Reddy, for "masterminding" the scam. Incidentally, Reddy was among the MLAs who had accompanied Surya during the "exposé".
The officer said they had received "some important information" from Babu that would help crack the case.